The latest on demonstration Sunday at state houses across the country.
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After a small, peaceful rally Sunday at the Ohio Statehouse, Gov. Mike DeWine says security levels will remain high in Columbus for the president’s inauguration Wednesday.
DeWine praised protesters for exercising their free speech rights in a way that ‘respects our Constitution and our more than 150-year-old state capital building.’
But he said there were concerns in the coming days about possible violence.
Authoritative protests were widespread in the United States on Sunday as law enforcers rallied for large-scale rallies and possible violence by supporters of President Donald Trump, who believed his false claims that he had won the presidential election.
Many rallies had more law enforcement than protesters. In states from Maine to Mississippi to Nevada, there was no right-wing protester at all. Protesters in Kentucky, New Hampshire and Utah were armed but peaceful.
Washington State Patrol spokesman Chris Loftis said there may have been a cooling-off across the country after a violent crowd of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 to stop Electoral College certification, and a Capitol police officer and four others were left dead.
He said law enforcement would not wait yet.
“The only thing we have in abundance today is uncertainty,” he said. “For us, in law enforcement, we simply have to be ready for anything. We can not allow ourselves to be dismissive, and we can not be restless. We just have to be ready for whatever may be. ”
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Some of the protests at state houses began to break after pulling only modest crowds – mostly no more than a few dozen protesters.
Officials fortified state houses with extra police, national troops and fencing after the FBI warned of the possibility of armed protests at all 50 state capitals.
Yet some Sunday had no protesters at all. The Capitol of Nevada in Carson City was empty, except for one person wearing a sign that read “Trump Lost. Be Adults. Go Home.”
In Richmond, Virginia, police vehicles, trucks and orange barrels blocked streets around the Capitol, but there were no signs of protests.
It was a similar story in Springfield, Illinois. Windows of the Capitol were turned on as a precaution amid fears of a rally similar to the Trump rally that preceded the January 6 uprising at the US Capitol, when a violent mob tried to certify the Electoral College for President-elect Joe Biden to stop. .
By mid-afternoon, only guards and state troops remained at the Ohio State House in Columbus on Sunday. The crowds disappeared before the kick-off of the Cleveland Browns NFL playoff game.
Protesters also cleared the afternoon in Lansing, Michigan, where state police estimated they numbered only 20.
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Some protesters began to show up outside state houses to send a message against the far-right groups that threatened the inauguration of Pres. To disrupt Joe Biden.
In Columbia, South Carolina, a group of about half a dozen people stood across the Statehouse lawn from protesters protesting pro-Trump, and one held up a sign that read, “What are you talking about?” so proud, BOYS? ” It was a reference to the far-right group Proud Boys. The groups did not appear to have interacted.
In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Stephen Rzonca, who lives a few minutes from the State Capitol, said he came to greet any possible protesters, even though there were no people this afternoon.
“I am fundamentally against the potential protesters who come here to de-legitimize the election, and I do not want to be passive in expressing my disapproval of them coming to this city,” Rzonca said.
And before protesters arrived in Lansing, Michigan, a truck showed up with a sign supporting Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who was the target of a forged kidnapping site last year.
As federal officers, police, and National Guard troops patrolled the area at the U.S. Capitol, a lone protester walked down the sidewalk with a sign that read, “Reject Trump!”
“Look at this world created by Trump,” said the woman, a retiree who lives in the area. She said she was afraid to reveal her name, pointing to the barricades and largely empty streets.
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Small groups of pro-Trump protesters, some armed, began gathering outside state houses, including in Michigan, Ohio and South Carolina.
In Lansing, Michigan, state police troops marched on the Capitol site while a small group of protesters stood near a chain fence around the 142-year-old building. Several National Guard vehicles were in a nearby street. One gunman falsely identified his name as Duncan Lemp, a Maryland man who was killed during an unarmed raid and became a martyr for a loose network of extremists against the government.
A supporter of President Donald Trump wore a red hat “Make American Great Again” while standing on the lawn with the flag “Do not step on me”. The back of his shirt reads: “PATRIOT NOT RACISM NOT TERRORISM.”
In Columbus, Ohio, about two dozen people, with several long guns, gathered outside the Capitol while dozens of state troops and members of the National Guard guarded various points around the Statehouse, including each entrance. Almost every business around the capital square in the city center has been planted.
Several dozen people gathered in the South Carolina Statehouse, some of whom carry American flags. It was not immediately clear whether some in the group were also protesters who supported the incoming Biden government.
A heavy presence of law enforcement officers surrounded the government complex in downtown Columbia. The Capitol itself has been surrounded by metal barriers for several days, and state lawmakers have announced they will not hold their scheduled session this week due to possible unrest.